Matey's musings: The last outpost

We had been told Cairns was the end of the road, and then in Cairns we were told Cooktown is the end of the line. We therefore expected the locals in the region to include misfits: runaways hiding in the farthest place they could run to while still having access to some conveniences of twenty-first century life. We only arrived in Cooktown yesterday, but the people we have met over the last few weeks, particularly the locals (many of whom are from elsewhere), have been fabulous, and we’ve had more in common with these folk than many we’ve met along the way! Hmmm. Maybe we just fit right in …

Blown away

We spent a few days at Hope Island, where the wind blew night and day. At Cooktown it appears to do the same. Further south we’ve observed the wind easing off at night and starting again in the morning as the land heats up. At around 15 degrees latitude, we’re now experiencing the trade winds, apparently. We are again sheltering from several days of even stronger winds forecast. A local advised that the key to Cooktown’s wind was the last two digits of the high pressure system in the (Great Australian) bight, i.e. if it’s showing 1020 hectopascals it will be blowing 20 knots at Cooktown. No doubt we’ll be checking to see if this theory holds true.

Cook’s nook

It was with mixed feelings that we wandered the bank of the Endeavour River, over the alleged location of Captain Cook’s beaching of the Endeavour 244 years ago, to repair the hull after its close encounter with Endeavour Reef. Cook’s extraordinary navigational and ‘seamanship’ skills are awe-inspiring and legendary, and it seems, unlike many of his time (and our own), Cook respected indigenous people. But it’s hard to walk here and not think of the devastating impact on Aboriginal people that was to follow. How different might history have been if this mob of rugged, ragged and talented sailors had been, like so many others, a little less lucky …

Scary hair no more!

Fresh water is a precious resource when you are on the move, you know it probably won’t rain any time soon and you’re not sure when you’ll next be able to fill the tanks, so it’s hard to justify wasting something so precious on frivolities like rinsing out shampoo (unless you have a freshwater stream close by, of course).

Some sage had informed the Matey that it’s impossible to wash hair with seawater: you can’t achieve a lather, can’t get it clean, etc. This seemed reasonable enough considering how thick and frizzy hair feels after swimming in salt water. However, moved by necessity, Matey decided to test this belief, and would like it to be known henceforth that it’s been debunked! A little extra shampoo was required to achieve a good lather and following conditioning and rinsing with salt water, Matey used perhaps a litre of fresh water to rinse the salt water out. The happy result was hair that feels almost as clean and soft as if washed in fresh water. Hallelujah!